Yellow cannabis leaves are good for nobody. Even if you’ve never grown weed before, the yellowness of the leaves sends chills down your spine because the threat of losing your plants becomes oh too eminent. It takes a potent blend of confusion and your paranoia to write your lovely plants off. But in case you think right, you’ll be trying to make the yellow leaves turn green again. Luckily, it doesn’t take a miracle to survive your plant. And maybe you shouldn’t be worried at all!
Cannabis plants communicate their distress through the leaves. If you notice your plant’s leaves turning yellow, they are not getting as much nutrients as they should, in which case, fixing the yellowing can give your plants back the breath of life. Yellowing leaves is caused by nutrient deficiencies, temperature shocks, poor lighting, wrong PH, or overwatering.
Cannabis plants turning yellow is a symptom of hidden ailments, and it helps if you tackle it way sooner so that you contain the damage. If you want to know more about the yellowing of the cannabis leaves, we wrote a lengthy article about it. It should help you understand all the causes and remedies for the yellowing cannabis leaves.
Not all yellowing is bad. Sometimes, the yellowing happens towards the end of the plant’s lifecycle. As the plant turns its nutrients to the final bud fattening endeavor, it will deny the leaves the vital nutrients turning them yellow. This is nothing to worry about. Chlorosis, the natural process of leaves losing chlorophyll, happens naturally during senescence. Thus, you shouldn’t attempt to turn the yellowing leaves of an aging plant green again.
Can Yellow Leaves Turn Green Again?
Yes, the yellow leaves can turn green again, but the chances are slim. If the yellowing is caused by internal plant processes like genetic mutations, senescence, and hormonal changes, it cannot turn green. If the yellowing is caused by environmental factors like nutrient deficiencies, and the damage hasn’t advanced, replenishing the deficient nutrients will allow the yellow leaves to turn green.
With cannabis, you can have your chances at the beginning of the yellowing. With the right diagnosis, you can turn the yellow leaves to green and save the plant. Even new foliage will be green and healthy. However, when the yellowing has advanced, and the leaves are severely wilting and frail, nothing can save them— even adding the lost nutrients.
At this advanced stage, the plant has closed the vascular connection of the leaves to the stems. The photosynthetic processes are permanently shut down, so even if you replenish the lacking nutrients, they can’t reach the leaves. Nothing can save them.
Whether the yellow leaves turn green is dependent on the extent and cause of the damage. If the plant’s roots have been gnawed by gnats, attending to the roots might not get your yellow leaves back to life, but it saves the whole plant— if it grows new foliage.
Should You Cut Yellow Leaves Off Plants?
You should remove the yellowing leaves that have deteriorated as they have no business sticking to your plant. If they have withered, they should detach easily from the stems, leaving no scar that needs healing. Removing the yellowing leaves helps you contain the malady and diverts the plant’s attention from salvaging the lost leaves to generating new growth.
Cutting is great, but make it as painless as possible— make the wound less invasive. The plant is already sick, and you don’t want it spending more time and energy healing the cuts.
Before you defoliate, pay attention to the number of leaves that are affected too. If too many leaves are yellowing, the plant’s production will be at an all-time low. Chlorosis is majorly a fluke— a little uncomfortable state that most plants can survive, but when more leaves are affected, the plant might not survive early enough for proper bud development. Still, only remove the severely wilting leaves; you can take chances with the rest of the yellowing leaves that haven’t begun wilting.
Focus on The Plant’s Health
It’s a bitter pill for most growers, but when the leaves begin yellowing, most times, you won’t be able to save them. Think of the yellowing as the indicator of a deeply hidden distress. Your aim shouldn’t be to keep the yellowing leaves; it should be to save the plant. Diagnose the ailment and adjust the environment favorably. The plant will react to your treatment by growing new foliage— green enough for optimum photosynthetic processes, saving the whole plant.
In conclusion, your cannabis plants do not have a more reliable mechanism to communicate distress than through the leaves. It’s through the leaves that you’ll know if the environmental factors aren’t optimum.
If the leaves have turned yellow, they’re more likely going to die and fall off. Sometimes, the yellow leaves turn green when you diagnose them in time and accord the right treatment, but you won’t save the leaves, say, 90% of the time. And it’s alright!
